TURKISH PM SLATES ARMENIAN RESOLUTION

NTV MSNBC, Turkey
Oct 16 2007

The vote by the US House of Representatives Foreign Relations Committee
has scared Turkish-US ties, Erdogan said.

ANKARA – Turkey’s Prime Minister on Tuesday slammed the passing of
a resolution by the US House of Representatives Foreign Relations
Committee acknowledging claims that the Ottoman Empire had committed
an act of genocide against its Armenian citizens during World War One.

Addressing a meeting of parliamentary deputies of his ruling Justice
and Development Party (AKP) in Ankara Tuesday, Prime Minister Recep
Tyaaip Erdogan said the recent developments in the US has stretched
Turkey’s patience beyond breaking point.

"The recent developments at the House of Representatives in regard
to the incidents of 1915 have left a deep mark on the memories
of the Turkish nation," he said. "No one has the right to judge
Turkey’s history without any document or evidence in hand. Such a
judgment implies execution without trial. Of course, in practice,
such decisions have no value. We know who we are and have confidence
in our history. No one should expect Turkey to bow its head to
historical lies."

Erdogan said that Turkey had been forced to develop new ways with
dealing with countries, such as France and now the US, that had
adopted resolutions in favour of Armenian allegations.